Todd Rose | Daily Press Mid Peninsula’s Landry Koski (12) shoots a layup past Big Bay de Noc’s Caitlyn Massengill (behind) and Alix Bleau (right) Monday at Big Bay.

GARDEN CORNERS — After an early battle, the Mid Peninsula Wolverines boys basketball team (2-10) pulled away to beat the Big Bay de Noc Black Bears (1-7) 37-31 Monday night in Garden Corners.

“It feels really good (to get the win),” said Wolverines head coach Mark Branstrom. “They executed, probably, to the best of their ability so far. That’s all I can ask for.”

At the end of the first quarter, Mid Pen was down 10-9. In the second, though, they held Big Bay to four points while they scored 12 of their own.

The third quarter was a defensive stalemate between the teams as they only scored a combined six points — 4-2 in favor of the Black Bears.

To Branstrom, it was a solid team effort that earned Mid Pen the victory.

“I can’t say enough about (the team). Every one of them,” he said.

Maybe most impressive to Branstrom was watching his young Wolverines team continue to grow.

“They acclimated themselves to each circumstance,” he said. “They’re learning, you can see that. That gave me goosebumps at times.”

Zach McNally led Mid Pen’s scoring with 10 points, and Branstrom noted Nick Temple’s defensive performance as a major help in the win.

The game was the return to action for the Big Bay boys. Despite the loss, Black Bears coach Brad McPhee was happy with how the game went.

“Considering it was our first game in like two and a half — almost three — weeks, (it was) not too bad,” said McPhee. “I was a little worried about the layoff because we were just starting to get some momentum going … our last game. Before the shutdown, they were just sort of putting it together.”

Against the Wolverines, McPhee stated, Big Bay had strong segments of the game separated by some shortcomings.

“We put some good stretches together tonight,” he said. “Then we’d have mental lapses, usually on the defensive boards, where we just weren’t physical enough … We’d pull it close then we’d fall apart.

“I was happy with their effort the whole night. The thing is just getting them into that aggressive mentality.”

The Wolverines will host the Superior Central Cougars Wednesday night in St. Nicholas while the Black Bears prepare for the Northern Lights League Tournament later this week.

Mid Peninsula 9 12 2 14 — 37

Big Bay de Noc 10 4 4 13 — 31

Mid Peninsula — McNally 10, Constantino 9, VanDamme 8, Lofquist 7, Richmond 3; F: 7; FT: 4-6; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: VanDamme 2, McNally 2, Lofquist.

Bid Bay de Noc — Johnson 19, Gillespie 4, McPhee 4, Thill 2, Harvey 2; F: 11; FT: 0-1; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Johnson.

In the second half of the Big Bay, Mid Pen doubleheader, the Wolverines girls snuck away with the win 54-53.

The third quarter contained several pivotal moments for Mid Pen. The first was Daisy Englund leaving the game with an apparent arm injury about three minutes into the quarter. The second was the Wolverines taking the lead — that they’d never give up — off of back-to-back three-point baskets from Shae Lampinen.

“That was like, ‘Oh, boy. We’re in trouble,'” said Wolverines coach Phil Croasdell about Englund ‚ the team’s leading scorer — leaving the game. “But I give credit to all those young girls. There was a few freshmen and sophomores who came in. They dug deep.

“I can’t pick just one person, but the rest of the team came through.”

In the closing moments of the game, Lampinen nailed all four of her free throws to help maintain the Wolverines lead.

Landry Ksoki and Rachel Johnson also shot 2-2 from the line to give Mid Pen a perfect free throw percentage in the fourth.

Lampinen led Mid Pen in scoring with 16 points while Koski had 15 and Englund 10.

As far as Englund leaving the game, Croasdell believed she was more shaken up than anything.

“That kid’s tough as nails,” he said. “She’s on the floor at least a dozen times (per game), and it was the first time that I didn’t see her get up right away. She played a heck of a game up until she went out.

“Kudos to Big Bay, though. They were ready to play tonight. They’re tough.”

Black Bears coach Bob Pederson said the game was a chance to gauge themselves as they prepare for districts.

“We were coming in here to play them at home as a test to see where we measured in the district,” said Pederson. “We know Mid Pen is the number one seed in the district and one of the stronger teams.

“I’m real proud of our effort. If we can clean up some things maybe we can come out with the win in that one.”

With a career-high night at 20 points — including four triples — Ellie Nedeau led the Black Bears in scoring.

“Ellie Nedeau caught fire from the three-point line,” said Pederson. “She had a career night. She really kept us in the game in the third and fourth quarters. I’m really proud of that effort.”

Alix Bleau also hit double digits for Big Bay with 13 points.

Like the Big Bay boys, the girls also ready themselves for this week’s Northern Lights League Tournament. Mid Pen, on the other hand, travels to Carney to take on the still undefeated Wolves.

Mid Peninsula 10 12 20 12 — 54

Big Bay de Noc 14 11 13 15 — 53

Mid Peninsula — Lampinen 16, Koski 15, Englund 10, Johnson 4, Prater 4, Hemminger 4, Lancour 1; F: 13; FT: 20-27; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Lampinen 4.

Big Bay de Noc — Nedeau 20, Bleau 13, Jones 7, VanWormer 4, Pederson 3, Durrance 3, Massengil 3; F: 19; FT: 9-16; Fouled out: None; 3-point field goals: Nedeau 4, Bleau 2.